Ozma Finds Love
by BlueMoonsAndTooSoons
Summary: Dorothy's long lost cousin finds his way to Oz and with his charming ways, wins over everyones heart, Ozma's more so than others. But after a mysterious string of robberies, and a grand tour coming up, charming becomes suspicious. Rated K .
1. Chapter 1

**I do not own the Wizard of Oz or its characters and affiliates. Heaven knows I wish I did. **

I concentrated on getting to my room. My mind was clouded with thoughts of delegations and parliment meetings and the rounds I would have to make in the next few months to see the people again. I didn't mind being the ruler of my fair country, with its surrounding desert sands and the magic inside its borders. I relished in it. I had friends who helped me immensly and there were no people I loved more then my subjects. I loved Oz with every fiber in my being.

But even someone who loved the country as much as I did would find, that at times, a break was needed. Right now was one of those times. I almost made it to my room when I suddenly ran into someone.

"My apologies! Your Majesty, my apologies!" A young man stuttered, grabbing my shoulder's to keep me from falling.

"Oh no, really! I should have seen you...I'm afraid I don't know you kind sir." I looked at his stormy gray eyes and honey blonde hair that waved all over his scalp quite elegantly. I had never seen him before in my life. Had he been at my court long?

"Phineas, Phineas Amplehouser. Uh...Your Majesty." He bowed a bit inderectly, and not very low. I smiled a bit at his attempted formality.

"Rise Mr. Amplehouser, pray tell, where are you from?" I inquired.

"The same place as your friend Dorothy I understand. Kansas. In the Americas. I arrived here last month quite unexpectedly, and you wouldn't believe the adventures I've had..."

"I believe I can. I've had many adventures probably very similar to yours in my country. How did you manage to get into my court?"

"Again, Dorothy. You see, she is a cousin of mine..." He put his hand behind his neck, as if wondering if he should have said that earlier. The explanation certain't explained the similarities, but I though Dorothy was an orphan, so I said as much.

He smiled warmly at the question. "Ah, yes, I just discovered the relationship my self only a while back. My mother is her aunt and her brother is Dorothy's father. I've been looking for her since I discovered the link." He looked at me again, light in all his features, so I smiled back. Everything about him was warm and inviting, very similar to my dear friend Dorothy. He could not have been more lovable then if he had carried the love magnet itself.

I met Dorothy in the castle courtyard with her friend the Scarecrow, who was here for a short visit. I asked her of her cousin and she smiled hugely at the recolection of her newfound family.

"And he is so nice and friendly! Why he made it all the way to the Emerald City just by being courteous and clever. He told of the time he was passing through a scary forest in Munchkinland and how he escaped terrible beasts by simply talking to them! Tricked a spider out of eating him, and did you know he met the Tin Man? Somehow, Phineas made it all the way from Munchkinland to Winkie Country and met him by the river. His adventures are so fascinating! So similar to ours Ozma!" She grinned, and if possible, it was bigger then her initial smile.

"I'm so glad for you!" I took her hands in mine and squeezed them. "What will your Auntie Em and Uncle Henry think of him do you think?" I asked.

"I'm not sure, but I'm certain they'll like him. I'm supirsed they never mention him to me before. And why they didn't tell me I had family? And in the same state! Imagine, I had relatives so close to me and I didn't knoww it the whole time!" She shook her head in disbelief, but a smile still plastered her features. We continued talking about our different meetings with him, untill Scraps came running out to us. The Scarecrow, who had said nothing during our conversation leaped up as she trilled her news.

"Something has been stolen from the palace!" She did a back flip and two somersalts before continuing. "The priceless vase given to you from the Oogaboo embassy last year! Its gone!" She did cart wheels and spins untill the scarecrow picked up the patch work doll and held her in the air.

"Impossible." He demanded. "There are no theives in Oz. There is no need to steal. Maybe it was simply misplaced by Jellia when she was cleaning the place. Went out for polishing or something." His proposition was eloquent, and made perfect sence, but Scraps just wailed.

"I thought of that. I asked Jellia, she said she didn't touch it, and she wouldn't lie!" She flailed around so, that the Scarecrow, although uneffected by her whaling fists, didn't want to bother with it.

"Are you absolutely sure?" I asked, getting face to face with the doll.

"Positive Ozma, it was there only this morning. Now its a quarter to four and its gone! I have to go tell the others!" She cartwheeled off, yelping her news to all who would hear of it.

"This is awful!" Dorothy cried, sitting hard on the grass. "Who would do such a thing? Why would they?" She started ripping at the grass, and the Scarecrow sat next to her.

"We'll figure it out Dorothy. It can't be that bad. Why, with my brains, and your..."

"Glinda's book!" I shouted before he could finish.

"And Ozma's quicker thinking." The Scarecrow muttered.

"Of course! Everything is written down in her book." Dorothy was elated at the prospect, then just as quickly, was sullen again. "But Glinda is out of reach. She wen't somewhere in seclusion to work out some spells. She probably took the book with her."

"Well, if she read it..." I offered, but remembered suddenly. Glinda didn't really read the book anymore. Nothing ever happened, and at the time I agreed with her. Life was too peaceful in Oz. Not that it was a bad thing, but it offered no reason to read the book. Why had I let it slip?

"We'll just have to conduct an Investigation I suppose." Dorothy chimed in.

"A what?" The Scarecrow looked at her curiously. "I've never heard of it."

"Of course not." Dorothy sighed. "Its never needed in Oz. But in the rest of the world, bad things happen all the time. So they conduct an Investigation to solve the problems. Its a way of getting answers I suppose." She stood up. "Maybe my cousin can help. He's from a big city, Wichita is pretty big you know, so maybe he know how the Investigation works!" She raced off with a quick "Bye Ozma!"

"I better go too, I wonder what you need in an investigation..." The Scarecrow muttered and walked off, without even a good bye.

I didn't mind, I was curious to understand the theft. Who on earth would have done it? Who in Oz? No one came to mind, so I just wandered in the garden, lazily remembering a few things that had been disscussed in Parliment. The Wizard had mentioned immigration laws...

My foot had fallen in a hole, barely covered by brush from the garden. I felt it hit something solid and I quickly pulled my self up and crouched next to the hole to peek in.

It was the vase! How very odd! Along with it in the small hole were some silver spoons, a necklace, and a tiny figurine encrusted with diamonds and saphires. The vase was the largest thing in the hole, and I assumed the rest had been stolen as well. I pulled the items out, but decided to put them back to show Dorothy later, as evidence.

My satin slipper was ruined with dirt and the hem of my gown was dirty as well. Oh bother. It can't be helped I suppose. I kept walking though the garden when I came upon none other then Phineas Amplehouser, lounging on a small bench.

"Phineas! Your cousin is looking for you." I called, approaching quickly to greet him.

"Oh, is she now?" He asked lazily, watching me approach. "I had better find her too." His eyes trailed to my dirty shoe. "What happened, majesty?" He beseeched.

"My foot fell in a hole with stolen good in it. Can you imagine? Someone has been stealing in the Palace! Its unheard of." I sat on the bench next to him, and he watched me scrupulously.

"Really? Now that is a shock. I understood this place to be a very perfect sort of place, and I was eager to settling in. Do you have any suspects?" He inquired good naturedly.

"No, not really. How strange it all is. You come from a big city, Wichita. Does this happen often there?" I asked.

A glint came to his eye, and a smile played at his lips. "Oh yes, all the time." He stood suddenly and took my hands in his. "I had better be off to find my cousin don't you think? So long your Majesty." He smiled playfully and kindly before whisking away behind a hedge.

My hands had dirt on them now, dirt that had been initially on his.


	2. Chapter 2

**I've always imagined Auntie Em looked like Vanessa Redgrave. From Letters to Juliet, the grandmother. And Uncle Henry looks like Franco Nero, also from Letters to Juliet.**

I stood next to Dorothy as we waited at the front gate for Auntie Em and Uncle Henry. They had been out, obviously, when Dorothy had sent them word of a suprise, that being Phineas Amplehouser. He stood on the other side of Dorothy, calm as a picture, and as good looking as one too. There was no sign of trepidation or fear in his counteneance, nor was their any motion to suggest it. I don't know for sure why I thought he should be worried. Maybe just my discovery this morning made me edgy.

"They're coming!" Scraps called from the top of the tower as the gates opened, and in they came. Auntie Em was the first to see Dorothy.

"My dear, what is this suprise you were so urgent about...oh." Her eyes alighted on Phineas. Uncle Henry came up next to her just as her eyes narrowed and Uncle Henry's did likewise.

"What are you doing here Mr. Amplehouser?" He said, pushing Dorothy and I away from him. Auntie Em stared the fellow in the eye, but he did not waver a bit.

"Your guess is as good as mine Uncle. I have found my cousin, my long lost cousin, and I have reason to believe you have been hiding her from my mother and I." He stated, cool as a cucumber.

"Darn right." Uncle Henry spat. "You and your kind were no good for her. I thought she was safe here from you...you vermin!" Henry's skin was turning red and Em pushed him away gently.

"How is your mother Phineas." She said quietly and kindly, but it was a forced tone.

"She is just fine Aunt Emily. I'm sure she would send her reguards. I see you've found your way to Oz as well." He smiled and was every bit the cordial man I had met only a few hours before. Uncle Henry was fuming a feet away, mumbling language Dorothy told me were swear words. She also said he hadn't used such language since their crops failed so miserably back in Kansas.

"Yes, Dorothy made it here first, andd her good friend Ozma brought us here to be happy, since life in Kansas had so many problems." She looked startled for a second, before continueing. "How long have you been looking for our Dorothy?"

"Since my mother mentioned her existance, and her anger at being unable to see her neice. I am a mothers boy, you see, and I set out to find her to make my mother happy. With my youth and my craft , I knew I had a better chance of finding her then my mother."

"Your craft! My arse!" Uncle Henry yelled. "You caniving, murderous, theiving...!"

"Henry." Em scolded gently. "Phineas, your mother Margret, is she still with your father, what was his name again...?"

"Giacomo. And no, he has been dead these past for years." He offered.

"You don't say!" Henry's mood lightened. "Good riddance I say..."

"She has now married my father's partner, Benno." Phineas filled in.

"That bastard!" Henry kicked at a rock.

"Girls," Untie Em looked at Dorothy and I, who were staring at the exchange with such evident shock, even Henry had noticed, and tried to control himself. "You should go. We'll explain everything as best we can in a litte while." She made a shooing motion with her hands, and I pulled on Dorothy's arm the slightest bit and she came with me. We could hear Uncle Henry start in yelling again. "Better off with you! Never, not in a milion years! You would have spoiled her inncoence! She may have been rich as a queen but you would have made her a vermin like you!" He was spewing curse words while Aunt Em tried a more gentle approach.

"I don't understand." Dorothy cried. Not a tear had escaped her, but she was confused and shocked, just as I was. "How could they hate him so? He is my only relative outside of them. SHouldn't they be excited to see him?"

"Perhaps, our Phineas isn't as charming as we thought. Nay, he is charming. But he might not be as innocent. You know nothing of him. Unlike what Uncle Henry and Auntie Em know, and it must be something terrible, since Uncle Henry was so angry." I myself was trying to come up with a plausible explanation, when I remembered my find in the garden. "Oh dear, I found the vase! And a few other things were with it. The theif has been burrying everything. Not very well though."

"Oh?" She sat up quickly from her postition of lying on the bed. "Oh...dear. I just recalled something, I heard long ago, back in Kansas. Everything is starting to come together..." She looked thoughtful for a moment before continuing. "Oh I really don't remember it now. I'm sure it'll come back to me in a second." She lay back down.

"This will be resolved soon..." I was interupted by a knock on the door. I rose to answer it when it opened and Phineas stood there, looking somewhat distraught.

"Is Dorothy with you?" He asked.

"Im here." She called from the bed.

"Cousin..." He walked over to her without even noting my existance. He leaned next to her and she sat up to see him.

"What is coing on Phin? Why do Auntie Em and Uncle Henry hate you so?" She pleaded, her eyes searching his face.

"Nothing, it is nothing. But I want you to understand something else. Your Uncle will say some terrible things about me and your Aunt some great false hoods. You are not to believe any of them. They are not true. Your relatives are kind people with good intentions, but they are blinded by prejudice and misunderstanding. _I_ will explain everything to you, in full truth." He kissed her hands. "I am too happy to have found you cousin. But your Aunt and Uncle will try and keep us apart. Will you listen to me? Do you trust me?" He pleaded with her.

"Yes." She breathed.

"This all sounds a bit suspicious to me." I interceeded. "How do we..."

"And I cannot thank you enough, Ozma." He interrupted me, and came up and took my shoulders. "I am sure you will aid me in bringing my cousin and I together. Mother will be most anxious to see her."

"She isn't leaving." I said firmly.

"But she must! There is so much world for her to see as of yet! Oz is wonderful, but you cannot expect a girl of her age to want to stay here forever. Nor you! Surely you are eager to see the rest of the world as well! You are certainly old enough!"

"I am a queen on Oz. Dorothy is a Princess. We have no time for frivilous pursuits suck as your proposal..." He silenced me by pressing his lips to mine for a quick, smart kiss.

"We'll see in time. I must be off now. Remeber Dorothy, trust me!" And with that he was off.

"The audacity of him..." I stamped my foot.

"I think you two are cute together." Dorothy mused.


	3. Chapter 3

**I realized that there is no one who reads the Oz stuff. Ah well, as much as I wish people read it, I don't mind if they don't. I am just happy to get it out there. Enjoy!**

**And I only wish I owned The world of Oz but I don't so blah blah blah, and on with the story!**

I saw Uncle Henry and Aunt Em before they saw me. I had left Dorothy in my parlor in search of them, and now I flagged them down. Quite frankly, I was worried about Dorothy and her position with Phineas. Ten to one he was leading her on with false hopes and ideas that make him a god and all else a mistaken mortal. Dorothy, in her own way, was too niave to notice what he said was overly defensive and odd. In fact, I doubt she cared. The thrill of having a relative made her so ecastic with joy, she didn't care what he was like. I suppose its an amiable quality, but it can be an unhealthy one, as I believe this to be.

"Uncle Henry!" I called, racing up to him and Auntie Em. "Auntie Em!"

"Ozma." He nodded kindly, but he was tense, as was Auntie Em. "Have you seen Dorothy? She wasn't in her room."

"Yes, she is in my parlor. But I have come to warn you. Phineas was there first." Uncle Henry cursed under his breath and Auntie Em sighed. "He was entirely won her over. And she won't believe anything bad you say about him. Please tell me the story of Mr. Amplehouser, and you can tell Dorothy later, but I need to know now. He might be a threat to my kingdom." I made the last bit up, since I was pretty sure a petty theif would be no problem, but I wanted to know this man better.

"You better sit down, it is quite a tale." Auntie Em looked to her husband, who was still a bit red in the face, and he nodded for her to do the sat in some nearby chairs, and Auntie Em began. Her voice was musical and sweet as she told the story, but tense and brisk.

"Margret was about 18 when she moved to Wichita, Kansas for school. She was a smart, young, pretty girl, and was universally adored where ever she went. She caught one fellow's eye in particular. Giacomo was a very handsome young man, and rather well to do, for obvious reasons. So, Margret being a girl who often read romantic novels, was swept off her feet by the handsome Italian, a kind not often seen in Kansas unless they had a shady business deal. Which I can assure you, he had.

"You see Ozma, Giacomo was a theif. A very well known theif, and he had a ring of theives that he associated with and they made quite a living off of this...I refuse to call it a career, but that is what it was to them. Once Margret found out what it was, she thought it was fascinating and instead of turning them in, she joined them in their ill-concieved adventures.

"Now, about this time, she had a son with Giacomo, despite not being married to him. She was a terrible scandal by this time, and bearing children only made it worse. She was denounced by her father, (Even though she named the child after him, Phineas.) And her brother, who is Dorothy's father, also denounced her. All she had was her theiving beau and his friends. Dorothy's father,( my nephew), was very adamant in his hatred of her, his own sister, but he forgot her, and married your mother. They eventually had Dorothy and things were going very well for him untill the family trip they took to New York.

"Dorothy's father, named Robert, got a good job in New York. He was going to be a lawyer. But as fate would have it, this wasn't to be. They ran into Margret and Giacomo and Benno somehow, and a fight ensued. Dorothy's father was killed in a knife fight with Benno, and her mother took the small baby and left the city, broken hearted. She only just got Dorothy to me before the sadness and stress and trauma caught up with her. She got fatally sick and died soon after.

"After Henry and I knew the story, we removed Dorothy from the situation and moved into the oblivion of Kansas grayity. We hid her past from her, and we didn't like to lie, but the child was going to grow up as a care-free, innocent girl if we had any hand in it. You can imagine our joy when we discovered Oz was the perfect place for her. A neighbor was shifty and had alerted Giacomo and his friends of the girls presance. He wanted the girl, or at least I know Margret did. But now we know Giacomo is dead..."

The story was interupted by Unlce Henry huffing, "And a good thing he's gone too."

"Henry." Auntie Em scolded.

"Thank you, Auntie Em, for telling me." I stood, a little dizzy from understanding Dorothy's...ancestry.

"You don't even know about Phineas yet. But according to my sources he is every bit his father, but maybe more clever and youthful. Beware of him Ozma." Auntie Em stood up as well, though Henry stayed in his chair, fuming.

"I will Auntie Em. Thank you again. I must go and find Phineas myself. I would like to talk to him." I walked off, despite Em's directions to do otherwise. I was the Ruler of Oz, nothing intimidated me, and everything could be won over by sweetness.


End file.
